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No big deal as Dublin gets cut down to size

Most of the capital’s transactions this year are expected to focus on smaller assets in the sub-€20m bracket

Grainne Rothery

September 17 2017, 12:01am, The Sunday Times

The imposing Gibson hotel in Dublin 1 is one of the larger projects to come on the market in recent months and is priced by Savills at €87mDONAL MURPHY

After a near record year for investment transactions in 2016, demand for large, prime assets continues to be strong, but a marked shortage of supply is slowing down activity and driving some investors to consider alternative options.

This year’s volumes are expected to be substantially down on last year when €4.5bn of commercial property traded. Last year’s figure, however, was the second highest ever and just marginally behind 2014’s record levels. It was also skewed somewhat by two standout deals that together accounted for €1.5bn or about a third of the total, namely the sales of Blanchardstown and Liffey Valley shopping centres.

Some €775m of investment assets traded in the first half of this year, according to property agent JLL’s most recent market report. The…